As a business owner you should consider the benefits of registering your intellectual property (IP), as it is an important business asset you must protect. If you fail to protect your IP rights adequately, competitors could copy or use your property without consent and you could have no legal recourse to challenge them. In this article, we will discuss the importance of registering your intellectual property in England.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IP rights are intangible assets of your business and can take many forms including trade marks and design rights<\/a>. Both forms exist strongest when you register them with the Intellectual Property Office<\/a>. Design rights protect the aesthetic appearance of a product. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It is crucial to protect your design rights in order to avoid competitors copying your products and damaging your reputation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n If a competitor was to copy your registered trade mark or use something highly similar, it is important for your business to be able to take legal action, which is guaranteed when your mark is registered with the Intellectual Property Office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Design rights and trade marks can both exist in unregistered forms. However, they are harder to protect if another business attempts to infringe your intellectual property. If a competitor attempted to copy your design and you held only unregistered rights, you would need to prove the design is owned by your business. Often, this proves difficult to do. In contrast, once you obtain registered designs, you gain exclusive rights to protect your business\u2019 products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You can often identify registered trademarks by the \u2018\u2122\u2019 symbol next to them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n If a competitor uses your trade mark without consent or a mark highly similar to yours within your area of trade, it can be difficult to challenge them. However, it can be easier to challenge them if you build your brand\u2019s goodwill and a strong reputation with your trade mark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your brands reputation develops and grows over time. Therefore, this can be difficult for new businesses to demonstrate. You will also have to show the competitor has misrepresented themselves and that this misrepresentation has resulted in damage to your business. In contrast, if you register your trade mark, you will have instant recourse to legal action as soon as you have registered your mark. Registration is available to any business regardless of how old it is. Therefore, it is a highly effective way of protecting your trade mark from the outset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Continue reading this article below the form\n <\/i>\n<\/a>\nGreater Protection Through Registration vs Unregistered Rights<\/h2>\n\n\n\n